Fall into shadows
by Kraiser
Summary: Taking place shortly after the grimm invasion of Vale, a group of responders to the explosion search the city in hopes to find survivors. What they find is not what they were expecting, and drags them into a whirlwind of events that far exceed any of their expectations. (Casual WIP)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Beginnings

The warm winds of the Commonwealth that blew outside the tin roofed house made a moan not dissimilar to a caravan Brahmin. As the setting sun cast a shadow across the sleepy settlement of Sanctuary, a figure hurls himself through the front doorway, sprinting full speed towards the neighboring gas station that had a massive red rocket adorning the top. As the man reached the door of the building, he rapped the door hard repeatedly until he slouched to the ground, out of breath, his sweat prominently dark against the tan leather of his Minutemen hat. He stood up to knock again, when the door was suddenly opened by a woman with short red hair, who looked as though she had just fallen out of bed.

"What are ye doing, knockin' on our door at this time of day?", the woman said, obviously quite cross. The man took a step back to put some space between him and the woman.

"Sorry Cait," he said with a sheepish smile, "but its really important. I need to talk to the general and his advisors." Cait snorts and throws the door open, motioning for him to come inside. The inside of the building was the same as the outside...strange. There were numerous weapons hanging from the wall, each with their own plaques. One was a simple BB gun that was simply labled "boy's first radroach", while another was a huge bladed minigun hanging from the ceiling with a tag that read "Sasha" with a smilely face drawn next to it and the very clear image of a finger print painted on one of the barrels of the gun.

As Cait led him up the stairs, the man noticed different things hanging on the walls. They were now photos, taken in all forms. Painted, drawn or taken from a camera, each one seemed to depict a battle had happened and showed the victors standing proudly in the center. The victors numbers varied, but increased steadily until the man came upon a photo of himself taken not too long ago. It showed him and five other men standing in front of a police station, with a deathclaw dead at their feet. The plaque said "greatest welcome wagon ever!", and the man felt his eyes grow wet at the rembering of that event. He hurried to catch up with Cait, and did so just as she opened the door to the room at the end of the hall.

"Oi', get up off your arses, sorry lot! Preston wants a word with ye." Her shout was loud enough that Preston jumped in fear. He wasn't the only one. Two of the men jumped out of bed in fright, only to land on the floor in a crumpled mess. Two more, the ones closest to the door, jumped up with weapons drawn. Before Preston could speak, he was staring down the barrel of a gun that make a Yaou Guai howl for its momma, and Cait had a flaming sword stopped only inches from her throat. The only person who did not respond to the yell was the man in the bed directly in front of the door, who was now rubbing his eyes and groggily getting out of bed.

Cait turned and eyed down the affroed man who had his sword at her throat. "Git that away from me neck Lux, or else who knows where I might put it." Lux pulls away his sword, but keeps his eyes narrowed at her.

"Just to be sure your you," he growls at her, " What is your name?" At this Cait goes red in the face with rage.

"Her royal pain in the arse, Queen Fucking Elizabeth the Third!", she shouts, then turns and leaves the room. Preston looks from Cait to Lux.

"Is there something that I missed there?" He asked, looking around the room, expecting a answer. The man rubbing his eyes answered.

"They were doing arm westling contests yesterday, and everytime one of them lost, they accused the other of using Psycho." Lux just crosses his arms and sighs. "She's just a sore loser. Cause, y'know, she is one."

Preston just shakes his head and addresses the man on the bed. "General Arrow, we have received a disturbing update from the Castle. It seem like somewhere to the Northeast, a huge explosion has taken place. The way they describe it, it was on par with the detonations of the nukes. They request the presence of you and all other commanding officers to give it your consideration. Sir."

With this, Preston went into a snap salute and held the position, waiting for a reply. Arrow, with a grunt, heaved himself out of bed and shambled over to Preston. "Thank you for that update, Preston, and of course we will answer the summons", he said, which ilicited groans from the two pile on the floor, "but first, breakfast. You care stay? We found a shipment of cinnimon/chocolate swirl sugar bombs last week. Haven't tried them yet."

Preston shakes his head no vigarously. "No, Thats okay, really! I have to help with some repairs anyway, but thank you!" With that, Preston turns heel and exits.

Arrow cocks his head in confusion. "What do you suppose is wrong with him?" One of the piles on the raises its head.

"Maybe because the last time we gave him something, it was animal repelent that didn't work and he had Mole rats and Radroaches nipping at his heels all week?"

Arrow raises an eyebrow. "Who's this "we", Van?" At this, the pile lowers it's head and shimmies itself under the bed. Arrow laughs and walks toward the door, kicking the second pile on the floor by accident. "Sorry about that Oreo! You okay?"

The blankets gather together, revealing a man with brown hair in reinforced leather armor, who merely stands up, bows, picks up the blankets, and sits down on the bed, legs crossed. Arrow just shrugs and turns toward the last man, who was sleeping in a bed piled to the brim with ammunition, guns and parts, with he himself going through every part, cleaning them with meticulus attention to detail. Arrow leans on the bedpost, looking at the massive pile of clean parts vs the tiny pile of dirty parts. He looks at Verde face and see's massive blackmarks underneath his eyes. "Hey, Verde, are you okay? You don't look so good. Did you get any sleep?" Verde just ignores Arrow and keeps cleaning. Arrow sighs loudly and asks, "Can you at least tell me your progress?". Verde suddenly snaps out of his trance and stops cleaning his rifle.

He slowly turns his head toward Arrow, with a pained smile. "I would be a lot farther along if it wasn't for your goddamn automatic pistol! Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean that thing out?! It took me a hour and a half just for that one!" Verde was heaving heavy breaths by the end of this. Arrow flung his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I will clean my own gun from now on. Sorry." Arrow walks through the doorway and turns back. The veiw of the room reminds him of something. As he walks downstairs, he mumbled, "Welcome to the island of misfit toys." With a smile on his face, he walked outside to go for a run with Dogmeat.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Fixing a lost connection

After breakfast, the five split up to finish thair assigned task for the day. Arrow headed toward the makeshift hangar with a massive M spray painted on the front of the main door. He knocked on the little side door, which slowly opened to reveal a timid looking woman in a mechanical suit. He smiled warmly at her, but only seemed to unsettle her more.

"Hey Izzy. Just wanted to check in on ya. How's it going?" He offered his hand for a shake, to which she merely backed and motioned for him to come in. As he walked inside, Arrow was immediatly hit by the strong smell of petrol and engine grease. The entire inside of the hanger was a flurry of motion, with service bots flying every where with torches and hammers, working on a massive airship. The Wanderer, a modified vertibird with six propellers and onboard miniguns, rocket launchers, medical bay and crews quarters. Able to carry up to eighteen people, this plane was the very reason Arrow and his friends were here helping protect the commonwealth from the Institute and the Brotherhood alike.

Isabell entered her personal workshop and Arrow followed suit. She riffled through a filing cabinet until she found a small, slightly scorched folder and handed it to Arrow. Opening it, he saw that it was filled with extremely detailed setches of the Wanderer and its internal parts.

"We're almost done fixing it, but there is one problem. We don't have enough fuel to make it fly, so I converted the engine to run on Fusion cores.", she says, avoiding looking directly at him, "I know your power armor uses those but it was the only option I had." She looks around nervously, not looking at Arrows eyes.

Arrow heaves a heavy sigh, but gives his best attempt at a caring smile. "Okay, that's fine. Just tell me how many cores we have left?"

She hangs her head and brings her arm up, her hand having two fingers up. She looks up and wiggles them. "That's all that we have for now, but I was hoping you would be able to find more on your trip."

Arrow makes a evil grin. "Why would I have to find them when you can?"

Isabell thinks about this for a moment, then opens her eyes wide in realization. She covers her face and curles up into a ball on the floor, wailing hysterically. "Please no! Don't make me go back out there! There are monsters, and savages, and ... and..."

Arrow kneels down and claps her on the shoulder. "Hey, look. If you really don't want to go, you don't have to. But tell me something." He turns her head, making her look at him. "How long are you going to hide behind that thin layer of alumminum sheeting? How long are you going to stay in here, cowering like a newborn Radstag?" She just looks away, sobbing. Arrow continues.

"When I first meet you, you were constantly spouting about how you were going to change the world, make it a better place. What happened to that?" He grabs her arm and pulls her to her feet. He pulled her into a hug, to which she greedily accepted and returned, sobbing uncontrolably. He silently waits patiently for her to calm down. It was twenty minutes later when she was finnally composed enough to stop crying. She wipes her eyes dry.

"Sorry about that.", she says with a embarassed smile, "I didn't mean to break down like that." She brushes the dirt from her pants and looks around the workshop. "I guess I just thought that my days out there were over."

Arrow shakes his head. "Why are you apologizing? Honestly, after all that's happened, both to you and me, it a wonder that I didn't just join you." He gives a half-hearted laugh and scratches the back of his head nervously. She gives him a confused look.

Moments of silence pass before Isabell mustered up the courage to ask "What could make you breakdown?". At this, Arrow tensed and Isabell jumped backwards, startled. Arrow sighs loudly and dramatically, hanging his head in sadness.

Without looking at her, he says, "Do you know what it feels like to be hated for doing what you thought was the right thing?" He walks over to the workshops door and leans against it, chuckling to himself. "No, don't answer that, we both know that you do. But have you ever been shunned because of it? Because that's why I'm here now."

Isabell walks over to him and hesitantly places her hand on his shoulder. He shivers from the touch, but remains still. She frowns and walks over to a workbench, from which, after a lot of messy papers and plans had been brushed around, she picks up a small, blueish helmet with antenas attached to the sides. She looks at it with a look of fondness as she brushes the dirt off of it.

" You know, I think this thing got used more in the few days that you borrowed it from me than in the entirety of my career as the Mechanist.", she says laughing. Arrow laughs back and they share knowing smiles with each other.

"So", he begin hesatantly, "do you think you'd be willing to join us on our trip? We could really use you help." She looks first at him, then the Wanderer, and finally, at the Mechanist helmet. She puts on a determined face and nods, a grin spreading across her face.

Arrow smiles, surprised. "Really? You mean it?" Isabell laughs at his reaction and lifts the helmet level with her face.

"Yes, I think it's about time for..." She jams the helmet on her head, making her voice deeper. "The Return Of The Mechanist!" To top it all off, she makes a pose, which causes her to hit the shelf above the desk, knocking a eyebot in rest mode on to her head. Both of them knocked on the ground, Arrow picks up the eyebot, only to find that it was none other than Isabells best friend, Sparks.

"Sparks, you ruined it!" Isabell grabbed the little robot out of Arrows hands and holds it close to her face. "What have I told you about sleeping on the racks!? You cause trouble, and never get back to your charging station in time." The girl, huffing, stomps over to a port and connects the bot. "Now stay there until you batteries are full charged!" The robot emitted a series of beeps and whirls, to which Isabell replied with, "and your mother was a toaster oven!"

Arrow slides up to Isabell and taps her on the shoulder. "So can I count on you and the ship being ready to go in about five hours?" She nods in the affirmative.

"I'll make sure the ship and me are both ready to leave by then. How many passengers are we expecting?"

Arrow does a mental headcheck. "Minimum of about eleven people, give or take. Make it happen." He turns and heads for the door.

Isabell does a mock salute. "Yes, sir, General." As he exits, Sparks gives a quizitive beep. She waves off his question. "Oh please, Sparks. It's just a simple recon mission. What's the worst that can happen?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Sendoff

Hours later, the whole of Sanctuary was a flurry of activity. Wagons of vegetables were being loaded to be sent ot Diamond City, the traps for animals, monsters and humans alike were being reset, children were playing Brahmin and Deathclaws, and the Wanderer was coming in for a landing in the center of the square. The rotors of the engines were whiping up dust and sand so bad, that some people had to cover their whole bodys in blankets and jackets to protect themselves. None of them dared to go inside or leave though, as it was not often, if ever, that the Wanderer is used on missions, let alone the whole team of the General and his head Commanders.

The crowd was not disapointed, as soon, the leaders of the Minutemen exited their respective building, equipped with gear and their chosen companions. When the group had gathered in a cluster near the Wanderer, Arrow seperated from the group and jumped onto the central square pavilion. As he cleared his throat, everyone fell silent and a hush fell over the township.

"Alright, I need everyone to pay attention. You all know I hate public speaking, so I'm only going to say this once." He paused and scanned the crowd for trouble makers, pleased to find none. He begins again.

"We just received word about a strange anomally to the Northeast. No doubt you all saw it. Hell, it almost blinded some people." Nods and murrmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd. Arrow gives a small sad nod of acknowledgement with them.

"Despite this, the dangers might still be yet to pass. While we still are unsure as to what caused it, I personally fear that it may be that someone has managed to get a hold on a small stockpile of nuclear warheads. Please, however, do not start panicing. There is nothing to fear. Me and my fellow Minute and Railroad men are launching a expedition to explore that area." At this, a cheer erupted from the crowd. Arrow gazed happily upon the scene, pleased with this moment of unity.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Now this does mean that we won't be here for the next few weeks, but I don't that should be a problem any more, am I right?" Another cheer came from the crowd. Arrow openned his mouth to begin again, but was cut off by a hand being cupped over it. Being pushed back, Arrow saw that the hand belonged to Van. He laughed as Arrow staggered off-stage.

"Yeah, we get it. Scheduels, and quotas, and stuff like that. We'll get to that later, but for now, **we dance!** " With that, without warnng, Van pulled out a controller and pressed a button. The speaker system kicked on with a screech and began to play a up-beat tune of a pre-war night club song. The crowd was confused, but only for a moment. Soon the whole crowd was joining in, and from it, Van slid over to Arrow.

"Sorry," he said through a laugh, "just thought I would save you before you drown." He slaps Arrow on the back. "let's get out of here." He turns and jumps onto the Wanderer, stands near the door and waves at the crowd. They roar in response.

Someone nudges Arrows shoulder. Verde smiles at Arrows annoyed face. "Guess we know who's the crowd favorite, huh? Here." He hands Arrow twin pistols to him, and meanders calmly to the ship, accepting the helping hand offered by Van. He smiles back and calls out, "Recon squad, let's move it out!" In response, a half dozen people pick up their ammo bags of gear and one by one enter the ship. Last aboard was Arrow, who paused in the doorway to look back upon the small town. The population as a whole was sending them off with a wave, wishing their heros good luck. He managed a small smile and a halfhearted wave as the bay door rose up and sealed shut, enveloping the hold in darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Unexpected guest

Hours had passed since the Wanderers crew had lifted off from Sanctuary. The initial excitement of adventure had long since worn off and boredom had become a very real problem. Arrow had spent the past two hours counting destroyed houses as they flew by. He had reached four hundred and fifty-two and counting when Oreo tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I think we have a stowaway." He motions for Arrow to follow. He leads him on a winding path through the boxes and crates of the hold and kneels down behind a box. Arrow joins him and they peek around the boxs corners. Arrow gasped. Van was working on a piece of machinery, which was rare by itself, but it was what he was working on that made Arrows blood boil.

Arrow rolls over the top of the box and brings a fist down on Vans head. Van rolls away clutching the top of his head, groaning in pain. He glares up at his assailant.

"What the fuck man?" He rubs furiously to ebb away the pain. Arrow walks over and picks Van up by the collar of his shirt. He struggles as he is forced to his feet. He looks around fearfully, and finds Oreo.

"Hey, help me out dude!" Oreo simply puts up both hands and backs away in big steps. Arrow drops Van to his feet and raps him on the head with his knuckles, hard. Van is left rubbing his forehead as Arrow examines the robot.

After a close look, Arrow turns back to Van. "Do you have a death wish? Because if that thing didn't do it, then I sure would have!" He picks up the opening to the bots crate and roughly shoves it toward Van. "Seal it up, **now.** "

Van shakes his head. " Why do you hate Liberty Prime Jr. so much? He would be really helpfull if you would just activate him." At this, light on the robot activated, along with a message.

"Model l163r1y, activated. running system diagnostic." A couple moments of whirling and a cheerful "ding" signified that all checked out. The robot swivled towards them, the blue light of the LED eyes staring peircingly at them. "Standing by for instructions."

Arrow gives a shudder and glares at Van. "Tell it to deactivate." Van stares back defiently and shakes his head. Arrow's face turns red from anger. "We need to turn it off before it causes any damage! It will destory the entire ship!"

Van shruggs this off and waves his hand dismissively. " You're crazy, cheif. You just got to show the little guy a little of love." He walks over to LP jr. and pets the bot on it head. It responds with the whirling of grinding gears, sounding like the pur of a cat from hell.

Arrow takes a deep breath and sighs very loudly. "Alright, I will calm down if you promise to listen. Okay?" Van pretends to measure to pros and the cons with his hands until he notices Arrow stonefaced expression, to which he just smiles. "Thank you. You remember how I told you we found that thing in a junk yard?" Van nods. "Well, the reason is that it had it's main glass dome was broken. After we fixed it up, it turned out the past owners had broken the dome to stop the robot from killing them. It had responded to the man killing a radroach and went berzerk on him."

Vans eyes widened and looked at the machine, which was currently carving a American flag into a wooden crate with it's finger. "So your telling me that LP JR. is a rampant murderous metalic psyhcopath if any act of violence happens?" Arrow nods. "So tell me; why didn't he attack you when you hit me?" Arrow, speechless, simply looks between the human and the robot.

Arrow turn to the robot. "Sorry about saying that your a ..." He pauses as a huge patch of turbulence hits the aircraft. The holds boxes stay held in place thanks to the straps. The humans grabbed the nearest rack and held on, landing neatly on their feet as it ended. The robot did not fair so well. Its unrestrained box flew into the air and came crashing back down with the bot right underneath it. The sound of wood and metal made for a odd echoing sound within the hold.

Van ran to the box, so fearful that it had been damaged that he did not hear the sound of a lazer weapon charging up. Halfway to the box, his legs were swept out from underneath him by a low kick, courtesy of Oreo.

An instant later, the box exploded into splinters, lazers peircing first it, and then the hull of the ship. The sound of wind whistling filed the hold, loud enough to drown out Arrow's unwise warcry as he unstrapped a stack of boxes, which promptly buried the automotron underneath weeks of supplies. Van lends a hand to Oreo as they crawl out of their hiding place. Arrow rifles through the back hatch of the robot, pulls out the hardrives and walks over to the two.

Van opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by Arrow. "I don't care what your reasoning is. Just promise me you will never work on this thing by yourself ever again." He hands the hardrives over to Van. "Talk it Izzy before you reactivate it. She probably knows better than you." Van gives an offended smile and punches him in the shoulder.

Oreo appears from behind the fallen pile of crates. "Hey, does anyone else smell smoke?" The inplane phone starts ringing, causing all of them to jump. Van picks it up and stands silent for a moment, then hangs up.

"Rear left engine is smoking bad, the holes are making the ship much less aerodynamic, and the sudden shift in weight isn't helping.", he says as he point toward the crates.

Arrow groans and hits his head against on of the racks post. "Alright, how long will it take us to get there now?"

Van grins. "That's the thing cheif," He says turning towards the window, "We're already here."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: All about perspective

Blake awoke from her sleep with jerk. Her nightmare. It still haunted her. She breathed a sigh of relief that she was back to reality, only to remember that her reality is just as scary as the nightmare.

Blake cast a quick glance around to room, looking for anything that might have gotten in during her lapse of awareness. The room was dark and musty, but it was empty, save for her and the three children who layed beside her.

She looked down at them with a smile. Of the three, two were boys and a single toddler girl, all of them faunas. Everytime Blake remembered this fact, it broke her heart, and this time was no different. She covered her mouth to stiffle her sobs. How could anyone do this to any little kid, regardless of race?

As time passed and the sun rose higher in the sky, Blake wiped away her tears and checked her weapons. Both blades were sharpened the night before, so she began loading the rounds into the magazines. Three clips. Three clips and her wits were all that was keeping herself and these kids alive.

The heavyness in her heart began to grow again, growing larger by the minute. Her tears threatened to overflow, when she heard the two boys wake behind her. The younger of the two, the little girls brother, proceded to make sure she was happy and safe. The older one, his friend, Zack, cautiously approached Blake.

"How much longer until we get there?" There was no fear in his words, only a hint of concern. His orange cat ears twitched apprehensively, determined to hear her answer. Blake turned to look out the hole in the wall, which gave her a clear view of the nearby buildings and streets. Their destination was nowhere in sight.

Zack saw Blakes dismayed face, and nodded in understanding. The streets of Vale were not a safe place anymore, especially for little kids. The fact that they had gotten as far as they had without meeting a Grimm was nothing short of miracle.

Blake and Zacks converstation was cut short by the sound of a baby crying. The older brother quickly covered her with blankets and attempted to sooth her, but to no avail. The cry grew louder by the second. In fear of the crys attracting Grim, Zack picked up a broken steel pipe and took off down the hallway to scout.

The brothers panic was quickly rising, and not knowing what to do, he attempted to hand the girl to Blake. Hesitantly, she took the girl from him and did the only thing she thought would comfort the girl. She gently hugged her and purred. Her face grew scarlet at the though of what she was doing, but it seemed to work, as the girl grew quieter and quieter until her crys were lost in her blankets and soon drifted back to sleep.

Blake handed the girl back to her brother, appearing more than a little embarassed as he stared at her in amazement. Trying to ignore him, she scoped up her gun and motioned for him to follow. They stopped at the end of the hallway, where Zack came out of his bathroom ambush spot.

"There's no underground routes. No sewers, nothing. ", he said grimly. Blake contemplated what their next move was, when a massive explosion sounded at the top of the building. The building shoke as something heavy began falling through its many ceilings and floors.

Panicing, Blake grabbed both boys by their shirt collars, running so fast as to drag them down the hallway, nearly choking them. Deafened by the sound of shattering concrete, Blake pulled the kids into a hug and ran full speed down the hallway, headlong towards a window wall.

Time seemed to slow as they slammed into the glass display, falling the single story down to the asphalt below. Blake angled the landing to prevent the little girl from taking the blow, but realized that she would be their landing. She glanced up as she braced herself for the landing, seeing that the building was not collapsing because of past damage, but because a massive Nevermore had crash-landed on it.

Their landing was ... Ideal, given that they didn't die. They had destroyed the axles of the truck they had landed, along with the frame of its cargo. The mattress within the truck had cushioned their landing, bruising and knocking the wind out of them, but prevented any broken bones. However, a loose spring from the mattress had stabbed into Blakes' right elbow. Ignoring the pain, she hopped out of the truck and helped the kids down.

With the kids cleared of serious wounds, Blake ordered them up and began ushering them down the street, when a roar so primal, that Blakes' hair instictively stood on edge. A pack of Beowolfs had heard the noise and came looking for prey.

"Zack, the police station is three blocks down the road behind me. Go and hide yourselfs in a jail cell. Now!", she yelled at him, knowing that he would insist upon fighting with her. At this urging from her, he merely threw her a angry look, told her "Try not to die", and ran down the road with his friend in tow.

The Beowolfs had heared her and had cleared half the distance between them and her. She adopted a high defensive stance and waited for them. The head of the pack jumped high, coming in for a arieal attack. It's attack was successfull, slashing across her chest, causing her to violently explode into a massive black smoke cloud.

The real Blake stood just beyond the blast radius, firing at any source of noise within the cloud using her hypersensitive ears. Moments later, a erie quiet overtook the street as the cloud dispersed. The road was covered in bodies of fallen Grim, whose darkness was succumbing to the light and disappearing.

She smiled happily at her handywork, surprised that her kill count was so high. Unusually high. Realization dawned on her as she saw that some of the bodys had not gunshot wounds, but bite marks. Detecting movement behind her, she swung her blade to decapitate the grim, but far too late and far too high. The beast bite her on her side, its razor sharp teeth tearing a part of her skin away from her. Blood poured from the site, staining both the road and her clothes red with the lifegiving fluid.

The animal was small, that much she could see, but little else. It seemed to fizzled back and forth from being visible. It greedily swallowed the chunk of meat and howled with delight. Its opaque eyes stared at Blake as it began to circle her. Loss of blood was causing Blake to lose consiousness. She welcomed for the monster to end her suffering as it jumped for her, failing to register the flaming sword swinging over her head, first slashing, then completely severing the monstrosity in half.

Upon death, the monsters stealth was gone, and all that remained was two symetical peices of a furless, mucus covered rabid mutt, red as though it had spent to many days in the sun. Despite the qrotesqeness of the hound, Blake forced her self to look at her savior. Whoever it was, they were massive, standing so tall that even a Beowolf looked small by comparisson. The being was covered from head to toe in some kind of white armor, a mask covering the face. The face drew closer to hers and stayed there, unmoving, unflinching, as fingers checked her pulse. The stranger's hand drew to the side of their helmet and began to speak.

"Verde, do you have a tag on my locaton?" A male voice, gruff and assertive. Moments of silence. "Yes, the place where you scoped that giant bird. Can you see a police station?" Blake's heart quickened with fear at the thought of the children being found by these people."Three in total, two male kids, one unknown infant. Take Oreo with you." Blake attempted to surprise the man by punching him in the exposed throat, but the mere tension of moving her muscles caused her to groan in pain. This did not go unoticed by the man. He gripped her shoulder, strong but not painfull, and said to his partner, "No, I can handle things here. Just make sure you get back safe."

Removing his hand from his helmet, he addressed her. "Ma'am, what is your name?". Blake, pressed for options, spoke her name through a croak. He nods. "Alright ma'am, My name is Lux, alright? I'm going to get you out of here. Do I have your permission to carry you?" Not knowing why he would ask that, Blake hesitated, but as her vision flickered, she jerked her head in the affirmative.

He picked her up calmly and carefully, ensuring that she would be hurt as little as possible. Blake couldn't explain it, but for some reason, she felt safe. It was a strange feeling after so long. That coupled with the exhaustion finally began to lull her off into a peacefull sleep. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the man named Lux saying, "Wait, are those cat ears?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Colliding worlds

Arrow was pissed, and usually when he got pissed it meant that someone was in for a nasty lecture. However, nothing in this situation was in their usual routine. Sleeping in on a cot on the otherside of the wall, was a catgirl making a remarkable recovery. Yes, a catgirl. A real catgirl. He knew because he checked the ears. They all had, against their better judgement. He sat in this room with the huge-as-hell Lux and the ever smartass Verde, who found the girl in a simple scouting procedure.

"So, tell me again, how did you find them again?" Lux lower his head, as though ashamed of something. Verde, however, did not feel ashamed, and was not afraid to show it.

"Why the hell does it matter? We found them and rescued them. End of story." He stood up abruptly and made to leave the room, only to be blocked by Arrow.

"Yes, I know and I'm sure they appreciate it very much. I just wanted to know why you were in a shopping district when you were supposed to be monitoring the giant floating island." Not long after they had been forced to emergency land on the outskirts of the city, they had detected another aircraft within the area. The initial plan was to request assistance in repairing the wanderer, but it turned out that the radar had actuall picked up a massive floating island floating over the city.

Verde scoffed and turned away. "A monserous bird flew by as I was monitoring it. I was afraid it would cause us trouble later, so I chased it and took it out. I thought you would be happy about me showing a little forethought for once." His fist clenched into tight balls in anger, his arms crossed over his chest.

Arrow relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I was worried you guys had gone off to loot the buildings. Glad to see you had your prioritys in order. Moving on from that, what are we going to do with the girl and the kids?"

"Can we keep them? They're so cute!" Through the door came Oreo and Van, both carrying a sleeping boy and Curie behind them holding the infant girl. They all sat down on a bench along the wall.

"You'll all be pleased to hear that all of the rescued survivors will be making a complete recovery soon." Curie smiled sweetly at the little girl in her arms. "Their cellular structure is incredible. They heal at an extreme rate with out any form of stimulant or suplement. It's like they have a constant supply of stimpacks"

Arrow had thought about this and asked Curie, "Does this mean the're mutants or were they born this way?" Curie shakes her head. "I have no idea. We're just going to have to wait until the woman wakes up."

Everyone groans about this, all anctious to as burning questions. However, repairs were still necessary, so they bussied themselves in that instead. After a few hours work, the basics were easily remidied, but extreme damage had been sustained to the rear left wing rotor. Isabel comes out of the fuse room coughing up black smoke.

"There's no way we're getting into the air tonight. The main prop way completely severed by the lazer. We need to find suitable scrap and make a new one." A scouting group was quickly formed by Lux, Van and Oreo. Verde positioned himself on top of the ship for a long night of watch. Curie and Isabel turned in early after such a long and hard day. Arrow planned to do the same. He walked down to his room, only to stop upon hearing a small voice call out.

"Is anyone there?" The room at the end of the hall was wide open with a light shining out. Arrow entered to find the brother of the infant sitting on the floor with her on his lap. He looked at Arrow with fear in his eyes. Arrow felt a slight movement behind him, trying to remain hidden. Arrow turned,and barely managed to dodge the crowbar swinging at his head.

The other boy, Zack, had a wild look on his face as he swung the crowbar again. Now aware of the attack, Arrow simply grabbed the bar and yanked it out of the kids hand and glared at him. "Don't do that again, you understand? We're not going to hurt you, we just wanted to help and ask that girl a few ques.."

"You mean Blake?!" Zack reacted extremely urgent upon hearing about her. "What did you guys do to her?" He was now standing on top of a dresser, clutching to collar of arrow shirt and glaring him in the eyes.

Arrow pulls the boys hands off him. "She's fine, just unconsious right now. You can go see her if you want to." The boy nodded vigorously, jumped off the dresser and ran full speed out the door. The brother stood up and introduced himself as Ian.

As they walked to Blakes room, Ian noticed a lack of noise. "Where is everybody?" Arrow told him about the repairs and sending out the party for scrap. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Blake moves so fast we can't even see her, and she was scared to be out at night. You think they'll be alright?"

At this Arrow starts laughing really hard. He laughs until he starts to cry and wipes the tears from his eyes. He sees the boy looking uncomfortably and manages to compose himself. "Sorry, its just that this kind of stuff is normal where we come from. It doessn't matter what they find out there, they can handle it. Trust me. They'll be okay."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Post- Apocalypse World Problems

A couple of blocks away from the airship, the scavenging group picked its way through the city, checking each and every building for any form of suitable scavenge. They found none, along with zero resistance. This worried Oreo immensely, but he held his tounge, fearing that it may lead Lux to engage in military search protocals, of which they had no time for. After searching through over a dozen and a half buildings, they agreed upon a resting spot in a wide alleyway between two short shops. It appeared that someone had tried to hurriedly build a shoddy looking barricade to block the entrance, which Lux broke down with a single shoulder charge. Startled little black creatures were thrown into a panic and in a single group, leaving behind the body they were eating to go find another.

Van and Oreo walked by the corpse without so much as a second glance, but Lux felt drawn towards the umoving corpse. As the large man studied the corpse, he identified it has having been a young boy, roughly eight years of age, given the size and shape. He felt a shiver go down his back when Oreo put a firm hand on his shoulder. He merely nods in understanding.

"Calm down. It's not her. You know she's safe back at Sanctuary." Lux narrows his gaze and shrugs the hand from his shoulder.

"It's not just that. Everywhere we go, it doesn't matter where, we always find things like this. I'm so sick and tired of it. Raagh!" He slams his fist into the stone brick walls, shattering mortar and rock, his hand running tiny streams of blood from the knuckles. "I just want a place to have peace, a place to call home. Is that too much to ask for?!" He glares at the two, daring either of them to challenge him.

Oreo is the one to respond first. "Yes, it is. You think I like having to see dead bodies everywhere? You think I like having to fight for my life everytime we step out the gate? Its the goddamn apocalypse! Your a big guy, so how about you grow a pair to match?!" Roaring in fury, Lux jumps after Oreo, who expertly sidesteps him. Swiftly kicking out, Oreo lands a blow directly to Lux's ribs, but the hit is softened by Lux's armor. Lux tackles Oreo to the gound and they grapple against each other across the concrete alleyway. Lux gains some leverage and readies to throw Oreo off of him when a large string of lit firecrackers drops next to both of them. They both scramble away from the explosives as they ingite in quick succession, sending echos throuout the city. At the other end of the alley, Van leans casually against the wall, a lit match in his hand, raised midway to lighting a cigarette.

He smile a sly, evil looking grin. "Sorry, just thought you guys should take a look at this." He jabbs his thumb around the corner, pointing down the road. The two peek around the corner, their eyes widening as they see that a massive city intersection had been transformed into a makeshift shelter. Several guards were patroling the tops of the walls, some with normal ears, along with several other with a variety of different animal aspects. Van pulls his friends back around the corner and addressed them with one question.

"So, do we go say hello, or do we leave introductions for another day?" Oreo was completely against this idea, remembering many non-too-fond memories of raiders and gunners. Lux was also against the idea, as it did not pertain to the mission. They turned to leave when they heard a shout for help. A woman with blond hair in a bloody bun pinup was running full speed down the road, her arm in a poorly made sling. The woman ran to the door, pounding on it with her good arm with all her might. Behind her, several of the large wolf-like creature from before were loping down the street toward her. Their progress went unhindered by the abandoned vehicles in the street, either throwing them out of the way, or simply going over them, crushing them in the process.

The woman turned, and with her good arm, raised a riding crop as though it were a sword. She swung it in a large wide swing, similar to a tennis player. Bricks from nearby buildings began to glow a bright violet and ripped themselves from the buildings. They flew together to form a tornado of stone and mortar, sweeping the monsters into it. The woman gimaced in pain and let her arm drop, causing the tornado to collapse, creating a large sloped wall of broken building. She fell backwards, leaning against the shelter wall. She breathed a sigh of relief, which was cut off by a bone chilling howl. The lone howl was acompanied by another, and another, escalating higher and higher until it reached the height of a war cry. Rubble slid and tumbled down the hill as wolf after wolf crawled over, a sea of dark fur surging towards the woman and her bright clothing.

A single beast stood ahead of the rest, claiming dominace over the broken woman. She flinches away as the heavy paw reached down to her. Her eyes closed, only her ears could register the sound of metal cutting flesh and grating against bone. She opened her eyes to see the tip of a sword inches away from her face, protruding from the abdomen of the monster. The sword retracted througb its body, the beasts body falling to the side and disappearing into the night. Oreo quickly wipes the blood from his blade with two fingers and turns to the rest of the monsters. He crouches into a low stance, his sword raised above his head.

"Ma'am, don't worry. We'll get you out of here. We may not have magic like you," he turns his head and smiles, "but we have a few tricks up our sleaves." After he says this, a line of explosions tears through the crowd of monsters, scattering them and their body parts everywhere. The surviving monsters, enraged, run full speed towards Oreo. They make it to where the alley meets the road before they are shoulder charged by Lux, who carries them across the road and slams them into the wall of a building. A monster attacks Lux from behind, only to have both its head and hand severed by Oreos sword. Lux turns say thanks, spotting another going for Oreo. He runs past Oreo, intercepts the beast by grabbing its wrist, flipping it over himself onto its back, and finishes the monster with a heelstomp to its face. Lux and Oreo look at each other, the tension from before completely gone. Lux offers up a fist, of which Oreo happily bumps.

"Sorry to interupt your bromance, but could I get some **fucking** **help**!?" Van was surrounded by the monsters, barely managing to avoid their attack, having no time to make is own. Oreo and lux run to help, making quick work and sushi of the wolfs. After all the monsters had been taken care of, Oreo tended to the womans wounds while Lux and Van scavenged the area for any medical supplies.

"Excuse me ma'am if this is over reaching my bounds, but what was that trick that you did earlier?" The woman didn't seem to understand what he was talking about. "Never mind, just get some rest, alright? I'm going to try to get you into this shelter. They should have what you need. I need to tell them who you are. What is your name, ma'am?"

The woman tries to talk, but her voice appears to have been completely lost from her screaming. Oreo tells her to stop when she contiues to try to speak. "It's okay. I'm sure it'll be..." A large rumble causes Oreo to cut himself off. The rumble come again, and again, with the rythem of rapid footsteps. Lux and Van climb out of the side of a building, sliding down the side of a broken wall and join Oreo. "Oh, can we not get a break?!" Vans anger was obvious in the tone of his voice and the color of his face. The rumbling grew louder and closer, until the stone on the sloped wall were shaking and rumbling down it. It was silent for a few precious moments, then with a large crash, a massive black scorpion smashed through the wall, making it rain chunks down upon the rest of the street.

"A queen radscorpion?! Shit, we need to retreat now!" Lux ran to the woman, draping her over his shoulder and lead the rush back to the alley. The scorpion rushed to cut them off, slaming its massive pincers to destroy the buildings above them. Glass and metal rained down on them, a large chunk smashing fown in front of them, trapping them. The monster reaches into the narrow gap in a attempt to grab them. The very tip of its claw reached Oreo, who in surprise turned around and unleashed a flurry of strikes, reducing the tip to a gnarled stump. The monster appeared unfazed, and continued to try to squeeze in between or knock down the buildings.

"We put all of our chips on the line, huh? Looks like have to play dirty to win." Lux and Oreo look back at Van, and both of their jaws drop. In Vans hands was a massive brick-shaped labeled simply "C4".

"How fucking much is that Van?! You'll blow us up before you blow up the wall!" Van simply chuckles and shakes his head. "Its not that big, just eight pounds. Been saving it for a special occasion. And it's not for the wall." He casually tosses the package in one hand, Ore and Lux wincing at every landing, and walks calmly toward the monster. He cocks his arm back to throw it, but stops as a loud whistling noise pierces the air. Instinctively, he ducks for cover as a missile explodes against the side of the monsters head, shattering its white shell mask. The monster recoils in pain, holding it claw up to protect its exposed soft spot and scuttles away at high speeds, disappearing into the night. A large airship lowers it self down, its whirling engines a banshees wail in the silent night. The rear hatch of the ship opens itself as a shady figure walked at a steady pace down the ramp.

The wanderers tensed as the man drew close, prepared to fight at a moments notice. The man was tall, average build, black hair with silver highlights from age or stress. He wore a pristine white suit jacket with matching gloves and pants. He smiled with a knowing grin as he extended his hand in friendship.

"Hello there, my name is General James Ironwood of the Atlas academy and military. I believe you have found something that belongs to me."


	8. Chapter 8

(This chapter takes place during the same time as chapter 7.)

Chapter 8: Meanwhile

Blake eyes twitched slightly as she awoke. She dared not open her eyes, fearing to see where she was. Images of stone chambers filled with the insane people who now littered the city, watching her as she lays strapped to a cold, stone platform. Only, she wasn't strapped down, and she was laying on something that felt... soft. She evened out her breathing as much as she could, and tried to remain silent.

"I know you're awake. The monitors showed ziz a few minutes ago. Please open your eyes. I must take a dialation check to ensure there is no internal brain hemerageing." Blake opened her eyes to see that a woman was standing beside the bed, wearing a clean white lab coat over a tattered plaid flannel shirt. The woman gently reached toward Blake, who flinched away. The woman simply smiled sadly. "The world is such a cruel place. I understand your scared, but I promise I will not hurt you." She reached again out again, only this time, Blake didn't flinch. Blake remained still through all of her checks, including reflexes and sight tests. Afterwards, she handed Blake a strange treat of a ball of deepfried dough as she fetched a patients chart from the wall. Normally Blake would never accept food from strangers, but she was starving and the woman was a doctor. Tentativly, she nibbles a small peice from the ball. Her mouth immediatly began to water. The food was dry to the touch and looked rock-hard, but the moment it touched her tounge, it seemed to melt away, leaving a delicously sweet taste in her mouth. Blake took a large bite out of the doughnut, but stopped as the doctor wagged her finger in disapproval, still looking at her chart.

"No, no, eat it slowly. It has a massive amount of sugar in it and we don't want you having a stomachache." Blake nods and continues to eat the doughnut in small bites. This turned out to be a good thing, as Blake could only eat about half of it before she started to feel ill. Blake felt uneasy about this whole situation. She shouldn't be trusting these people, but they don't seem to be evil. She cleared her throat to get the womans attention and said, "Who exactly are you?"

She smiled and said, "I am Curie. I was bui... brought as the ships medical officer. And you are?" Blake told her her name without any hesitation. Curie smiled once again and wrote Blakes name on the sheet. Blake realized that the woman is naturally this happy and wondered for a moment how it would feel to be that happy, just once.

Curie placed the sheet in a holder next to the door. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask. Don't worry, I'll answer them all myself after Mousiour Arrow talks to you. He was very adamant about speaking to you the moment you woke up." She opened the door and turned back to Blake, giving her yet another smile. "Please don't let him scare you. He may be loud, but I assure you, he is a gentle soul who only wants to help. I will check in on you afterwards. Bye bye." She wave and presses a button on the outside console. It closed with a slam, which seemed to snap Blake back to reality. She slapped herself across the face, hard. Tears from the pain in her eyes, she clarified her situation in her head. She was being held by people in a world where there is no law, she had no weapons, and the children are missing.

Slowly, she swings her legs over the edge of the bed. Feeling no pain, she casually stood up and walked to the door. She reaches for the door panel when she realizes that she is wearing a patients gone and nothing else. She looks around the room and sees three dressers. Two held minor medical supplies and tools, but the last one held her dress, bow and weapon. She quickly changed and began to check her weapon.

The door slid open with a clang that made Blake jump. She whirled around and leveled the gun at the man in the door way. He raised his hands and smiled. "I come in peace. No harm will come to there stranger." He takes a step forward and Blake indicated with the gun to not come any closer. He sigh and put his hand into a pocket. "Calm down. Your not going to be shooting anyone without these." He pulls out three magizines of ammo and waves them at her. Blake flips her gun and sees that the clip slot is empty. She clenches her gun and moves to hit him with it. He easily catches her blow and holds her still as she struggles to break free.

"Will you please stop?! I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to.." He was cut off by her other hand, curled into a fist slamming into his face. He stumbles back and kneels down, hand on the side of his face. Blake quickly snatched up the ammo clips, put them into the gun and leveled it at him. Still holding his face, he pulled himself off the ground and stood up. He looks at his hand holding his face, and seeing no blood, lowered it without any concern. "You get it all out of your system? I can take a bit more if not." Blake just glared at him and held her aim.

Arrow shakes his head with a smile and walks over to the bed and sits down on it, one hand tucked into his jacket pocket. He patted the spot on the bed beside him with the other. Blake still doesn't move and glares at him. He sighs loudly and pulls a automatic pistol from his pocket. Blake flinches as he levels it towards her. They stood, locked in a standstill, neither making a move. Blakes mind was racing through options. She didn't want to kill this man, but if she didn't make a move soon, she might end up dead.

"I can see that you are a little tense, so how about a game?" Blake face grew red with anger at this notion. The world was going to shit around them, and this guy wanted to play a game?! "Let's start with a fan favorite from back home. The rules are simple. You fire a single bullet at me, and I have to block or dodge it. That's all." Blake questioned this. He didn't look like a Huntsman, but why else would he suggest this? One screwup and his head would be all over the wall. He leaned forward casually and shrugged his shoulders. "Normally, we bet lots of caps and supplies in these games. This time though, if you win, you can leave immediatly and we won't bother you anymore. However, if I win, you stay and heal while I ask you a few questions. Cool?" He raised his gun and coldly began counting.

"Three" Blakes mind was racing. She didn't want to kill him, but he isn't giving her much of a choice. "Two" What if he's lying? What if she kills him and the others come for her? "One" She took a deep breath, aimed down the sights, and fired. A blink later and on the floor was the crumpled shape of two bullets, comletely flattened against each other and melded together. Putting the smoking gun on the bed, Arrow leaned down and picked up the bullets. He held it up with a smile. "Not bad, huh?" Blake just stood stone faced, while inside, she didn't know what to think. "Here," he tosses it to her, which she catches with one hand, "keep it as a momento. So how do you feel now?"

Try as she might, Blake had to admit that all of the excitement had worn her out. The fact that the area of the bite had begun to hurt didn't help either. She winces in pain and holds her arm from clasping her side. Seeing this, Arrow walks over and helps her back onto the bed. After he ensures she is comfortable, he quietly backs out of the room and closes the door. Questions would have to wait until later. At least she realizes he isn't some savage raider, even if she doesn't trust him. That's a step in the right direction.

Hands in his pockets, Arrow walks outside to get a breath of fresh air. The cool night wind blew over him like a wave, instantly cooling him. He glanced above and saw the muzzle of a sniper barrel peeking over the edge of the airship. Grinning to himself, he quietly walked beneath the barrel and inhaled deeply. "It's a nice night, huh?", he said loudly. The gun was quickly pulled back, and was replaced by Verdes head, red with anger. Arrow started to laugh, but was cut off by Verdes hand covering his mouth. Verde brought a finger up to his mouth for silence, pointed down the road and handed Arrow a pair of binoculars. Arrow took them and brought them up to his eyes.

Down the road, a group of people were systematically searching the building, looking for something. They were all wearing white and red masks, save for two who appeared to be the groups leaders. One was a female with tan skin and green hair, while the other was a white man with silver hair. They seemed completely at easy, walking through the destroyed streets as though they owned them.

Arrow, completely serious now, asks Verde, "How long have they been doing this?" Verde shakes his head. "They showed up in my sighs three minutes ago. They look like they've been looking for a while though." Arrow looked through the binoculars again, and a chill crawled up his spine. The green haired woman was looking right back at him and gave him a evil smile, waving at him all the while. She motions toward the silver haired man and they began to walk towards them. Arrow hands the binoculars back the Verdant. "Wake up the girls. Tell Isabell to put LPJ on standby. We're going to have company."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: A less-than-pleasant encounter

Arrow crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the ship as the group approached. The girls watched from a window near the back of the ship, and Verde was hidden away on the ships roof, his fingers turning the safety on and off to steady his nerves. When the group arrived at the ship, the green haired girl happily leaped forward and extended a hand.

"Pleasure to meet you." Arrow raised an eyebrow at the girl and did not take her hand. After realizing this, she pulled back her hand and was pulled back herself by her silvered haired associate. He covered his face with his hand as he held the girl in place. "Sorry about that. She can be a bit forward at times." He released the girl and walked forward himself.

"My name is Mercury. Hers is Emerald. That's all you need to know." Some members of their party grumbled, but were silenced by a look from Emerald. "So who are you exactly?" Arrow steps forward and stands level with the man.

"Silver Arrow, General of the Minutemen, associate of the railroad, honorary member of Brotherhood of steel, and Co-owner of New Vegas." He gives Mercury a mock salute and a smug look. Mercury is visibly disgusted, but puts it aside. He walks up to the door of the Wanderer and makes to open the door when Arrow grabs his arm. Mercury swiftly aims a kick at Arrows head, only to find it misses by about a foot above Arrows crouched head. Arrow uses his position to twist Mercurys arm and throws him away from the door. Mercury rolls with the throw and smoothly lands, jumps back, spinning and kicking at Arrow head. Arrow blocks the blow with both hands and pushes back. Mercury uses the momentum and backflips back into the front of his group. He appears unscathed from the encounter. However, Arrows arms are shaking from the force it took to block his kicks. They were as heavy as a super mutants.

Arrow fakes a grin and shakes his head at the man. " Come on now, have some manners. You could at least say please." Mercury, obviously annoyed, clenched his hands and stepped forward, only to be stopped by Emerald. She said, "I got this. Go chill out tin man." She pats him on the shoulder and walks up to Arrow. She doesn't stop until she was directly in front of him, face-to-face. Arrow was extremly uncomfortable, though to his credit, he did not flinch.

"Listen tough guy", she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "we're on a mission right now. We don't need any trouble. Just tell us what you know about this girl. Then we'll leave you in peace." She hands Arrow a photograph. Arrow looks at it and tries to hid the fact that his heart was racing. The photo was of Blake, sitting in a courtyard reading a book. He hands the photo back and asks, "Who exactly is she? Did she do something wrong?"

The group laughs and talks amongst itself, sharing chuckles over a hidden joke. Emerald waves her hand to dismiss this. "Na. She's just someone who's important to our boss. Personal stuff." She laughs quietly, but stops when she notices Arrow staring. "What? What are you looking at?" Arrow laughs at her. "Nothing. I just realized that your eyes and hair match. Its kind of pretty." Emerald is taken aback by this and looks to Mercury for help. He just shakes his head in annoyance and turns away, doing which he notices a form dart behind a rock.

He runs over and kicks the top of the rock, destroying it, and allowing him to land on the hider, pinning him. Verde struggled to lift the foot off of him, only for Mercury to stomp on his chest. He crouches down and smiles, obviously pleased with himself.

"Thought you were slick, huh? It's gonna take more than that to pull the wool over my eyes." He stomps heavily on Verdes chest again, causing him to violently gasp for air. "Any last words? I'm sure your friend would like to know them." At this, Verde laughs and tries to speak, his words coming out in a whisper.

Mercury laughs and leans in closer. "Sorry, I couldn't hear that. You have to speak up." Verde sucks in a chestfull of air and says one word. "Blindspot". Realizing Verdes plan, Mercury spins around and kicks out, only to have his foot caught by a mechanical hand.

LPJ bounces with excitement. "Oh boy, are we playing tag?! I guess I'm it." Terrified of this robot, Mercury frantically tries to pull his foot free, to no avail. LPJ pull its other fist back and punches Mercury directly in the spine, sending flying into and through the side of a building. LPJ thrust both it hands into the air in victory. "Your it! No tag-backs!" LPJ turns and runs into the oposite building, crashing through a wall. Verdes pulls himself to his feet, holding his side, and chases after LPJ.

Emerald witnessed Mercury going through the building. She turns to Arrow, only to find him directly in front of her. He jumps past her, hooking her neck with his arm. They both land hard, Arrow on his side, Emerald directly on the back of her head. Her vision turned foggy briefly before she went unconsious. Her men quickly went for their guns, but Arrow was faster, drawing his gun and shot two of them. A third dodged behind a destroyed car and the fourth ran to the otherside of the Arrow attempted to get up, the pain in his side prevented him from running. The man behind the car stood to take a shot when a hole the size of a penny was burned through the side of his head. The man dropped dead immediatly, as Izabelle came out from the ship, carrying a primed and ready lazer rifle. She scanned the area for hostiles and once it was clear, she runs to Arrow and begins to check his vitals when a arm wraps around her neck, choking her into a headlock.

Emerald tightens her grip on Izabelle, cutting off most of her air. "You know who we want. I bet she's on that ship, isn't she? Tell her to come out, or this girl gets it." The door to the air ship opens and Blake steps out. Her bandages were soaked red from the effort. "I'm right here. Let her go. She didn't do anything wrong." Emerald releases Izabelle, kicking the lazer rifle far away. Izabelle collapses to the ground, her breath raspy. Emerald walks toward Blake.

"Five days. That's how long you've been running from us. It was a good run. I don't know how you managed to survive that long by yourself, but you did. Now its all over." She draws her guns and aims them at Blake. "Now don't start any trouble. We want you to look pretty for your prince when you get back." She gestures for Blake to move. Blake begins to move, but seizes in pain and collapses to the ground, her muscles tensing spaztically.

Emerald sighs and rolls her eyes. "Don't do this princess, I am so not in the mood. Get up before I shoot you and carry you back myself." Still Blake doesn't move. Emerald scoffs, "Fine. Have it your way." She levels her gun and pulls the trigger. Complete silence. She pulld it again. Other than the clicking of the hammer, no noise is made. She begins looking for the problem when something behind her shakily pulled itself up. Arrow stood hunched over, clutching his side with his right hand, and in his left, the magazines of Emeralds guns.

Emeralds look of surprise turns to anger, and she lunges at him with both guns, their bladed barrels aimed for his throat. Arrow backsteps, but trips and lands on his back. Emerald quickly lands on him, pressing both blades to Arrows Adams apple. Arrows tries to push them back, but only barely manages to hold them off from piercing his throat. The Airship door slams open as Curie runs out screaming, armed with a power fist. She slams into Emeralds side, who rolls off of Arrow and lunges at Curie. Curie blocks the blow with the power fist, but the blade penatrates the weapon, impaling Curies hand and exits the other side.

Emeralds laughs victoriously, but stops as the power fist activates, the piston snapping off the blade from her gun and wreching it from her hand. Curie lowers the power fist, revealing a look of extreme disgust and anger. Emerald rears back in fear. "Who the hell are you people?!" Curie does not respond, she only steps forward and clutches her by her neck.

She says, "leave us alone, and never come back!" She pull the power fist back and full-force punches Emerald in the stomach. Emerald flies backwards and crashes through the window of the building Mercury crashed through. Curie turns quickly, and rushes to Arrow, verifies that his wounds were nominal, and goes to Izabelle. Arrow stands and walks toward Blake.

"Hey, you alright?" She simply nods her head, obviously unable to do much else. Arrow crouches to help her up, when a gun muzzle comes into his view. The four soldier stood shaking in front of Arrow, visibly terrified. "All of you put your weapons, or your leader gets a bullet in his brain." Curie quickly drops the power fist as the man pulls Arrow into a headlock. "Now, Miss Blake, come with me or..." The man sentence ended abruptly as his head exploded, his blood raining on Arrow.

Everyone turns to see Verde walking out of the broken building he entered with LPJ in tow. He give the mans body a annoyed sneer. "I think we've all heard that line enough for one day." He turns to Arrow and offers him a hand up. "What the hell would you guys do without me?" They share a smile and share a brotherly hug. They help pick up Curie get Izabelle into ship and go to investigate the building Mercury and Emerald were in.

Both Mercury and Emerald were found crawling on the street, a trail of blood from both of them. Verde motions to attack, but Arrow tells him to stand down. A ship had entered the space between the buildings and was lowering itself to the ground. The rear hatch door opens and two people jump out with ropes, land next to two assasins, attaches them to the lift and safely delivers to the ship. A dark figure lined in red watches this whole process, and when the two are safely aboard, it casually tosses a orb of red light out of the ship.

The ship takes at a extreme speed, narrowly avoiding the buildings. The orb glows bright crimson and begins to resonate a low grumbling roar, that grow louder and louder. Verde instictivly shoots the orb, causing it to violetly explode and release a deafening roar. The sound dies out and the streets were filled with silence once again. The ground begins to tremble underneath Arrows feet.

"Verde" Arrrow said, "get to the ship. Now!" Hoards of monsters rounded the corner, flooding the street and turning it to a writhing black sea. They reach the ship and slam the hatch shut, only have a massive surge of force slam itself into the side. The door buckles and squeeks under the force. Ian and Zake run to the Med bay and hide themselves and the baby with Blake. Curie and Izabelle were running around in the control room, listing off diagnostics and system checks. All the while Arrow and Verde just stood there, looking at the door, hoping and praying that it held.

A massive piercing whistle filled the air, causing everyone, even the beasts, to freeze. The noise got louder and louder, becoming painfull the listen to until... Suddenly the ship was throw into the air, massive blast propelling it into the side of a building. All the girls and the children were strapped in to their chairs or beds. Arrow and Verde weren't so lucky. They were bounced around the hallway like tumbleweeds. Arrow was thrown into a gun closet while Verde smashed his head on fire extinguisher. Woosily, Arrow crawled up the diagonal hallway to check on Verde.

His brow was split open, and he was knocked unconsious. Probably for the better, that would hurt like a sonofabitch. Arrow wasn't feeling to hot himself. Bruises everywhere, at least one broken rib, and a severe concussion. Arrow contented him self to fall asleep when a loud voice was broadcasted by megaphone.

"Any survivers, please make yourselves known. We have food, water and medical supplies." The man repeated himself several times as Arrow struggled to reach the door. He used the last of his strength to push the door open and draped himself over the edge of the door frame. He didn't have the strength to speak, and so just tried to be loud. The noise he made was strage, not dissimilar of a dying walrus. This caused the rescue crew to laugh as they helped him up.

"Here I thought you only knew how to bark orders. Guess you know other animals as well." Van said with a gleefull twinkle in his eye. Lux just shook his head and tried his best to ignore Van. Oreo approaches the groups as they near the ship. "Don't worry. We'll get you patched up in no time. Turns out, we made a few new friends."


End file.
